Atley's Journal

Atley ate french toast and strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of paleo stew with turkey burger, carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower.  She also ate saltine crackers and tropical fruit. Several times this morning Atley would stop in front of the heat vent and put her bare feet on it and chuckle.  Then she'd just stand in front of it and feel it blow on her and chuckle.  That was the first time I've seen her aware of the air blowing out of there.  (If you read the last sentence fast you'll notice I'm influenced by Dr. Seuss!!  Ha!) I took these first two pictures before breakfast when Atley and Nora were having so much fun being silly and playing.  Atley LOVES to make Nora laugh.  For example, this morning she was pretending to fall off the little step in front of the window and she'd look up to see if Nora thought it was funny. Nora laughed so Atley kept doing it until Nora quit laughing!  In the two picture...

Atley ate waffle and most of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate baked chicken legs, whole grain tortilla, corn, and applesauce. I smelled poop and I said, "Ok, I smell poop!  Who's poopy!?"  Nora, Avi, and Atley - all three of them grabbed themselves at the same time and started saying, "I am."  "I am."  "I am."  Ha!  Nora was the only poopy one!  One out of three telling the "truth."  That's about par for this age group!! (That's a joke!) Atley was doing some singing today, just like everyday!  I asked Hudson; "What song is she singing?"  And he nailed it; "Farmer in the Dell."  I thought that was pretty cool that it was clear enough for one of her peers to understand. Hudson was happy to be back and see his friends and was hugging everyone this morning.  It was very sweet.  So I asked them if they'd do it again so I could take a picture and here's Hudson and Atley re-creating the mom...

Atley ate kix cereal and bites of mixed fruit for breakfast.  For lunch she ate turkey burger, bites of hamburger bun, bites of lettuce salad with tomatoes, and she ate her cherries.   We had a humorous incident this morning and I'll try to set it up for you.  A volunteer with the Sheriff's Department came by to pick up a check for a fundraiser they do every year.  The volunteer was a character about my age with long white hair and white beard.  (Like Santa Claus without the suit!)  He had stepped just inside the front door and of course the kids were lined up at the big white gate to see who it was.  When he saw the kids he started talking loudly (and perfectly I might add) like "Donald Duck."  Oh man, Avi took off running, Atley started laughing, and Nora immediately backed off and sucked her thumb more vigorously!  Hudson's not here, but his reaction would probably have been negative as well!  :) Atley was singing so many son...

Atley ate whole wheat toast and mangoes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate ground beef with marinara sauce on whole wheat spaghetti noodles, bites of squash, and ate fruit salad. This first story is more about Hudson, but involves Atley as well.  Hudson and Atley waved at the window when Momma Megan drove by this morning.  Several minutes later Hudson was at the window kissing it back-n-forth - the full length.  (So sanitary!!)  What are you doing Hudson?!?  He said, "Kissing the window!"  Why?  "It got hurt...waving at Megan."  Haha!  Well, Atley does bang on it pretty hard! Here's a picture of Nora and Atley having some big fun this morning in the chair.  First Atley was pushing Nora around and around; then when I took this picture Atley was piling the doll blankets on Nora and Nora was immediately and quickly pitching them off and laughing hysterically!  Just having so much fun together!! Some other activities this mo...

Atley ate a couple bites of whole wheat bagel and ate grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate shrimp, a large serving of brown rice, most of stir fry vegetables, and ate her raspberries. The first picture is from yesterday afternoon.  Kenzie was wanting to take pictures of the kids sitting on some blocks and basically "posing" for her.  That usually doesn't work real well with this age group, but Kenzie got some pretty cute pictures of the kids.  (She's actually showed me a couple of things on my iPhone camera when I need assistance!  Stinking 7 year old technical wizards!!  Ha!)  Today we did some "golf ball art" at Art Time and the 2nd picture is Atley taking her turn.  There is card-weight paper in there covered with about 10 different colors and 4 golf balls rolling around.  :) This next picture cracks me up!  Hudson said, "Can we watch for Kenzie and Riley?"  Well I guess so, but you'll have to stand there for over fou...

Atley ate bran cereal and raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bites of chicken, bites of whole grain pita bread, ate olives, no tomato or cucumber, bites of avocado, and ate her pears. We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend and the kids were busy all morning exploring everything.  The "new" toys keep them engaged all morning so we rarely do Art Time or sing songs on Toy Exchange Monday.  We did read a tall stack of books from this exchange.  When I took this first picture Atley had previously been reading some books and Hudson said, "Why is she singing about green beans!?!"  Haha!  That made me laugh.  He obviously thought the tune was "Today is Monday, today is Monday, Monday green beans (some books call it string beans)....."  (That book was in the last toy exchange so she could very well have been singing it.) Atley was the first one here and had LOTS of the toys scattered around on the floor before anyone else arrived...

Atley ate malt-o-meal cereal and bites of dried plums for breakfast.  For lunch - from the baked "beef kabobs" she ate her meat, no zucchini, no peppers, and no mushrooms.  She ate a large serving of brown rice and no pineapple. Hudson was pushing Atley around and around in the swivel/rocker chair as fast as he could go!  Atley was loving it, but she was doing these extra-super LOUD fake laughs that didn't sound real authentic!  Ha!  What a goof!  She makes me laugh!  (Not fake laughs either!) Nora was covering baby Linnea with a blanket and being very careful.  Atley went over and did the same thing, except with a different approach!  She barely bent over and just let it flutter down and land however!  (That's when I took the first picture!)  Good enough!  Haha!  (And there's a classic example of the difference of Nora and Atley!!) We have this daily ritual as we prepare for Story Time.  The kids LOVE Story T...

Atley ate waffles and maybe a bite or two of fruit salad for breakfast.  For lunch she ate a large serving of shepherd's pie which includes hamburger, green beans, carrots, and potatoes.  She ate half of her whole grain tortillas and ate her cherries. This first picture pretty much depicts Atley's modus operandi!!  Silliness galore and lots of squeals and laughter!  What's not to like!?  :)  This is very characteristic of what her day usually looks like.  Of course she has her moments of frustration and maybe sadness, but what a happy and fun-loving girl!  I totally Love having her at Little Treasures! We read books, played with the blocks, and watched the workers next door at the neighbor's house. Atley spent the first part of the morning clearing shelves and making piles of toys and then spreading the loot everywhere!  That is how she loves to operate; make the room look like a cyclone went through here!  And she's pretty good at...

Atley ate two servings of french toast (amazing what a little syrup does - ha) and ate two strawberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate bite of "whole 30" (which basically means no beans) chili with hamburger, peppers, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and seasoning.  She also ate tropical fruit and dinner roll. Here's a random question that Hudson asked me this morning and then asked Atley!  Ha!  "Hey Gary, what's the funniest joke you heard?"  So I said, "knock knock," but that kind of fizzled out before it got started.  Ha!  Then Hudson turns to Atley and Avi; "Hey Atley, what's the funniest joke you heard?"  LOL  I roared! In the first picture Atley and Nora were giving greetings to Baby Linnea.  (Which reminds me - the Blogs may post a bit later because I'm starting to feed the Baby solid food.)  Second picture; Atley is on the top level of the igloo.  Ha! Here is Atley, Nora, and Avi playing more silly g...

Atley had a bite or two of toasted whole wheat english muffin and ate two large servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate pork chop, whole wheat bread, no roasted vegetables (potatoes, carrots, beets, sweet potatoes), and ate applesauce. I took this first picture last Friday afternoon, but I have to post it because it's so cute.  She's pretty proud of herself for getting on the igloo - at least on the first level!  :)  Avi saw Atley doing it again today and now Avi is making it up there too.  :)  And that is how it always goes in Daycare!! In the first picture; Atley joined Nora reading books on the couch.  Atley was reading/singing two of the songs and they were totally recognizable.  "Bear went over the Mountain" and "Six Little Ducks." When Atley started singing those Nora whipped around to see what she was doing!  I think I did the same thing because I'd never heard her do "Six Little Ducks" before. Atley loves doing ...

Atley ate oatmeal and some dried cranberries for breakfast.  For lunch she ate two servings of tilapia, most of whole wheat elbow noodles, ate one green bean, and ate applesauce. Mommy was a little concerned about Atley not feeling too well this morning - runny nose and maybe feeling yucky.  Well I gotta tell you Atley was still going strong at 12:00!!  It didn't affect her activity to any degree that I could see!  Ha!!  Which was good!!  She and Nora were having their usual crazy fun time and I took this first picture when they were just running back and forth from the gate to the big mirror.  Run and laugh, run and laugh.  I Love it!  In the 2nd picture they were simply moving the legos pieces from the legos drawer to a pile on the floor!  Lots of noise and lots of fun!  Finally Hudson had to come and inspect; "what are you doing!?!"  :) I said I was putting Baby Linnea to bed and Nora instantly started singing, "Nigh...

Atley ate whole wheat bagel and bites of peaches for breakfast.  For lunch she ate hamburger/sausage pizza on whole wheat crust with tomato sauce, olives, pineapple and no pineapple on the side. Atley and Hudson were sitting on the couch waiting for me to start reading at Story Time.  (I was busy changing diapers.)  Hudson said (or this is what I heard), "Atley likes it when I beat her."  What!?!  So he repeated it; "Atley likes it when I beat her."  So I'm thinking I must have heard him wrong!  I certainly hadn't witnessed any beatings!!  Ha!  A couple minutes later while they were still waiting on the couch Hudson leaned over and poked Atley's nose saying, "Beep beep."  Haha!  Ok, so that's what he said, "Atley likes it when I beep her!"   :) The first three pictures are of Nora and Atley having lots of fun playing together.  The way these two play totally fascinates me!  Part of it is because they have such ...

Atley ate two servings of whole wheat toast and two servings of grapes for breakfast.  For lunch she ate roast beef, whole grain tortillas, bites of carrots and potatoes, and bites of fruit salad. These first two pictures are similar to what I posted yesterday, but Kenzie and Riley elaborated on their building and also on their "production!"  Ha!  They were doing a "play" for the little people (1st picture) and then a puppet show - using the stuffed animals for their puppets (2nd picture).  It was cute how they had the yellow bench for the audience (Hudson and Atley) and then Nora had front row viewing up close and personal!  It was actually very cute and the kids were laughing and shrieking.  (I think the laughing and rowdiness started when the performers started throwing their puppets into the audience!)  Ha! When we were done with Story Time we did some gluing at Art Time.  The kids had lots of fun with it and I took the next picture to...

Atley ate bites of toasted whole wheat english muffin and bites of dried plums.  For lunch she ate bites of chicken, two servings of brown rice, bites of stir fry vegetables, and ate most of her oranges.  These were better oranges and the kids loved them!  (Well, Atley liked them. Ha.) These first two pictures are from yesterday afternoon and I wanted you to see an example of what the after school girls do with the little ones.  They built this three-sided block structure around the front of the igloo with an access hole in the front.  (In the first picture Avilene is exiting through the access hole!  ha!)  Nora is watching Avi leave, Atley is looking at a book, Hudson and Kenzie are already in the igloo.  They had books in there to read to the kids.  The 2nd picture is just taken from the top looking down into it. Pictures do not tell the story of the excitement level these two have when getting together first thing in the morning. ...

Atley ate cheerios and banana for breakfast.  For lunch she ate taco salad with ground beef, olives, bite of tomato, ate avocado, most of whole grain pita bread, and a bite of watermelon. We did a toy, book, and puzzle exchange this weekend so the kids were busy all morning checking out the new stuff!  In the first picture Atley and Nora had one of the car ramps on top of the legos table and I'm not really sure what they were doing, but they sure thought it was hilarious!  Laughing over and over.  There are some buttons to push and a phone rings, etc... Atley may have been pushing the buttons with her toes.  They were sure cracking up about something.  I love it!!  Atley is such a good friend for Nora - helps brings out silliness and joyfulness! The next picture - Atley was busy experimenting with the trucks that hold the shapes and the airplanes that hold some people.  The first thing Atley did this morning was clear the shelves of all the ...

Atley ate brown rice and raisins for breakfast.  For lunch she ate baked salmon, dinner roll, corn, and a bite or two of mangoes.  She obviously wanted more dinner roll at lunch because she was taking some off Avi's plate across the table.  Haha!  (Appropriate - no,  Funny - yes.)  So I told her I had more and she could ask for more.  :) All the pictures in today's Blog are from yesterday afternoon, but I think they're too cute not to Post! The kids had lots of fun this morning; reading, jumping, playing with Baby Linnea, and coloring some coffee filters at Art and then spraying the filters with water to watch the paint run. As soon as Kenzie and Riley arrive after school the dynamics of the group immediately change.  They (especially Kenzie) like to engage the kids in activities and Kenzie loves to be in charge.  So this first picture depicts that pretty well.  Kenzie has a microphone and she's keeping the kids all moving through th...